Lady Gaga demands recognition as queen of the universe

Lady Gaga’s reputation as a high-maintenance diva is unlikely to be changed by current US litigation. Gaga’s former assistant Jennifer O’Neil claims she is owed around $380,000 for 7,168 hours of overtime (suggesting that Gaga pays $53 an hour, which doesn’t seem too stingy).

Rather than pay the cash out of her enormous fortune, Gaga preferred to subject herself to six hours of interrogation from lawyers, hopefully to be released as a box-set some time in the future.

O’Neil’s complaints do seem a little petty. She has moaned that her duties included being responsible for "ensuring the promptness of a towel following a shower and serving as a personal alarm clock" for Gaga. Duties extended to "stadiums, private jets, fine hotel suites, yachts, ferries, trains and tour buses.” Frankly that doesn’t seem like a particularly harsh working life.

Gaga has responded with customary robustness. “She is a f***ing hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn't earn," she said. "She thinks she's just, like, the queen of the universe. And, you know what, she didn't want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I'm the queen of the universe every day."

Ah, right, now we see the issue. It’s the "slave" and the "queen of the universe" thing. Still, Gaga thinks O’Neil should have showed a little more gratitude. "She slept in Egyptian cotton sheets every night, in five-star hotels, on private planes, eating caviar, partying with Terry Richardson all night, wearing my clothes, asking Yves Saint Laurent to send her free shoes without my permission, using my YSL discount without my permission. It is, like, such an amazing luxury that I get to travel the world and have planes, she doesn’t even see what a luxury it is."

Gaga’s rants continued at interminable length, including a pathetic whinge that she occasionally had to move her own bags, no doubt while O’Neil was parading around in designer shoes with Terry Richardson – whoever he is.